The present invention relates to aqueous liquid detergent compositions and to the use of same in the laundering of fabric materials in general and, in particular, to the laundering under relatively mild washing conditions of fine fabric materials such as nylon, polyester, wool, silk and the like.
Alkyl glycoside materials such as, for example, higher alkyl monoglycosides and higher alkyl polyglycosides are known materials; are known, at least in certain circumstances, to function as nonionic surfactants; and have been suggested as being suitable for use in certain specially formulated detergent compositions. See in this regard, for example, Published European Patent Application Nos. 0070074; 0070075; 0070076; and 0070077, all of which published on Jan. 19, 1983 as well as Published European Patent Application Nos. 0075994; 0075995; and 0075996 which published on Apr. 6, 1983. See also Published European Patent Application No. 0105556 (published Apr. 18, 1984) which discloses liquid detergent compositions containing anionic surfactants, alkypolyglycoside surfactants, selected nonionic surfactants and optionally also containing various other ingredients such as suds stabilizing amino oxide surfactants, detergent builder materials, and the like; Published European Patent Application No. 0106692 (published Apr. 25, 1984) which discloses stable heavy-duty liquid detergent compositions containing a mixture of an ethoxylated fatty alcohol nonionic surfactant, an alkylpolyglycoside surfactant and a quaternary ammonium cationic surfactant in conjunction with a polyethylene glycol compound and a wide variety of potential conventional laundry detergent additives; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,773 (issued Jan. 15, 1985) which discloses laundry detergent compositions which contain a conventional nonionic detergent surfactant, an alkylpolyglycoside detergent surfactant and a quaternary ammonium cationic fabric softening surfactant and which are said to be capable of including a wide variety of conventional laundry detergent additives such as relatively small amounts of detergent builders, detergency cosurfactants such as trialkyl amine oxides, solvents such as ethanol, and the like.
As is reflected within the prior art references noted above, the various glycoside surfactant-containing laundry detergent compositions suggested to date generally involve the use of said glycoside surfactant in combination with various anionic surfactant materials and/or with various conventional non-glycosidic ethoxylated nonionic surfactant materials and/or in conjunction with one or more of a variety of detergent builder ingredients.